Eastwood group returns from sights, sounds of New York

Written by Maddie Jackson, Staff Writer, Eagle’s Eye

June 03, 2013

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Seeing new sights, mingling with tons of people everywhere, and driving through chaotic traffic – the Eastwood High School’s National Honor Society experienced this excitement in New York City this spring.

Getting up at the crack of dawn, the group of 47 finally left around 6 a.m.

The first few hours were spent on a bus until they arrived at the Flight 93 Memorial site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Everyone was able to get out and walk around and see the wall of names, the benches that were put up and the rock that was put over the spot where all of the people lost their lives.

After the memorial, the bus traveled to a nearby McDonald’s, and everybody was able to get a bite of food before their next few hours on the bus.

Eastwood National Honor Society members stop for a picture outside Rockefeller Center. In early March, the NHS members had a whirlwind tour of New York City, seeing Broadway shows and experiencing big city life. (Eagle’s Eye photo).

Finally, around 6 p.m., the bus arrived in New Jersey at the Courtyard by Marriott Mt. Arlington hotel. The travelers put their luggage in their rooms, but before getting completely situated the group left to eat at a Cracker Barrel nearby.

After getting back to the hotel, everyone had the opportunity to swim in the beautiful hotel pool.

Bright and early the next morning, the group got up and set out for New York City. When arriving in New York, their first stop was to Battery Park where they took a Harbor Cruise that traveled around the Statue of Liberty.

Due to Hurricane Sandy, the cruise ship had to stay quite a distance away from the island that the statue is on since all of the docks were blown out.

Besides seeing the Statue of Liberty, they saw Ellis Island, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge while on the cruise. They were also able to see the city from a different view by being on the boat.

Sadly, due to the snowy, cold weather, it was very hard to get a clear view of Lady Liberty.

After docking, everyone got back onto the bus and drove to the Heartland Brewery for lunch.

At the brewery, students enjoyed a family style meal of shredded beef sandwiches, nachos, french fries, a steamed vegetable plate, and even some of the brewery’s homemade orange, root beer, black cherry soda.

The next stop was the 911 Memorial at Ground Zero. In order to get into the sight, students had to go through security. They got to see the two fountains of names, which are extremely beautiful. The group could also see where they have started to build a new building. Although it seemed super tall from the ground, it will not be as tall as either of the twin towers were.

After leaving the Ground Zero, NHS members went to a church, St. Paul’s Chapel. This church was the only building left untouched by the towers falling. Inside the church was where many volunteers who helped with 9/11 came in to sleep or eat. When the group went inside they were able to see many pictures of the people who volunteered, a bed where someone had slept, the benches where people had slept, and pictures of those that were never found.

One thing that got all of everyone’s attention was where the policemen and firemen from all over put a patch down to show that they were there. Right on top of the pile was a patch from the Toledo Fire Department!

After leaving the church, the NHS members arrived to their hotel, Hotel Edison, in the heart of Times Square. Everyone had to quickly get ready to leave again because they were going on a backstage tour of Spiderman, Turn Off the Dark.

During the tour, the group was able to see all of the props backstage, costumes, props that are below the stage that get raised up, and many other cool behind-the-scenes activities that not many other people get to see. Some people even got to meet some of the actors.

Before going to their first Broadway performance, they had dinner at Sbarro’s Buffet. The first Broadway show that the National Honor Society went to watch was Jersey Boys.

The next morning, they went on an incredible tour at the NBC Studios. On the tour, the group saw news anchor rooms, the set where the Dr. Oz show takes place, and the Saturday Night Live set. They even were able to participate in a mock news broadcast. After the tour of NBC, they left for a visit at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center.

They spent most of the rest of their day on a pizza tour of Brooklyn, where they went to two different pizza places and got a tour of the city of Brooklyn.

With the little time that they had left before dinner, groups of people split up and some went shopping, while others went to Grand Central Station and rode a subway to Central Park.

That evening, they went for dinner at Ben’s Delicatessen which was followed by their second Broadway performance, Spiderman, Turn Off The Dark.

Because it was their last night in the city, most people went for a walk in the city or shopped around after the show.

The next morning, the National Honor Society members departed for home. On the way, they stopped at the Country Cupboard and had lunch along with a little shopping.

After an eventful, exciting four days, the group arrived home around 8 p.m., just in time to get a good night’s sleep before returning to school Monday morning.

(Reprinted with permission from The Eagle’s Eye, an Eastwood High School student publication).